


New but familiar

by laira348



Series: Too soon [6]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-27 13:17:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6286177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laira348/pseuds/laira348
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma starts school and meets some important people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New but familiar

**Author's Note:**

> This...took a while. I wish I could give you a reason for my lateness, but I don't really have one. Sorry. Here's to hoping the next update won't take so much time.  
> Also, I'm not sure the school part is accurate? It's short, so it doesn't really matter. It's just that I don't know much about american school system or changing schools in the middle of a school year.  
> Anyway, I hope you like this.

“You sure you’re going to be okay?” Jefferson asked. It was sweet - and, frankly, a little odd – that he worried. Emma was worried too, but that was different.

“Yeah. It’s not the first time I changed schools.”

It was January, which maybe wasn’t an ideal time to start in a new class, but Emma’s had worse. At least this time her guardian’s nice. So far.

“Alright then. You know where you’re supposed to go?”

“Second turn on the right. Miss Blanchard’s class is at the end of the corridor.”

“Atta girl. I’ll pick you up after school. Good luck, Emma.”

“Thanks, Jefferson.”

She got out of the car, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. When she looked back Jefferson lifted his thumbs up at her. She smiled.

Okay. Second turn on the right.

Emma walked to the school, trying to hide in between the other children. This was a small town though; she could feel eyes watching her, probably wondering who she was. She ignored them and went to her class.

She knocked on the door, fidgeting with her hands.

“Come in,” a soft voice responded.

She walked in. Behind the desk was a woman with short black hair, looking through some papers. She was young, probably younger than Jefferson and oddly familiar.

“Hello, you must be Emma.”

She got up and shook Emma’s hand.

“Yes, I am,“ Emma nodded.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Mary Margaret Blanchard. I’m going to be your teacher. You can sit there,” she pointed to a desk on the left. “There’s an empty space next to Paige. I think you two will get along.”

Emma sat down and simply observed as he class filled. Miss Blanchard seemed nice. But Emma couldn’t pinpoint what exactly it was about her that made her feel like she saw her before. Her thoughts were interrupted when a girl, probably a little younger than Emma, sat next to her.

“Hi. I’m Paige,” she introduced herself.

“Emma.”

“You’re new, right?” she asked, still smiling. “Did you move here with your parents?”

“No, um, I got adopted.”

“Well, welcome to Storybrooke. I hope you’re going to like it here.”

This town seemed stranger every minute. Why were people so nice and welcoming? Paige didn’t even comment the fact Emma was adopted.

“Me too.”

*

"So, how was your first day?" Jefferson asked when he came for her.

"It was better than I thought it would be,” Emma admitted. “I think I’m going to like Miss Blanchard."

"I thought you would."

"You know her?"

"It's a small town,” he shrugged.

"Paige, the girl I sit next to, is nice too,” she smiled. It wasn’t often that Emma found a friend. It was too early to call Paige a friend, but there was potential.

Jefferson’s face was blank when she looked at him.

“You okay?”

“Yes, of course. I just got lost in my thoughts for a moment.”

Emma nodded, but she didn’t buy it. Something was bothering him.

“Anyways, I thought we could visit a friend of mine? His name is Mr. Gold. I wanted you to meet him. And we could go to Granny’s dinner for hot cocoa afterwards?”

“Sure.”

“Okay. He has a shop on Main Street.”

“What kind of shop does he have?”

“A pawnshop. I used to work for him a long time ago.”

He led her to a shop with green paneling and a big sign. The bell rang when they entered. There was a middle aged man behind the counter, leaning on a cane.

“Hi,” Jefferson waved at him.

“Hello, Jefferson. And you must be Emma.”

“You’re Mr. Gold.”

“Indeed I am,” he extended his hand to her. He had a firm handshake, just as confident as he appeared.

"It’s nice to meet you, Emma."

“You too.”

He looked behind himself and spoke in a soft tone.

“Belle? Could you come here for a moment, sweetheart?”

A small pale woman peaked from behind the curtain. She looked at Emma and Jefferson warily.

"Hello," she smiled timidly, moving to stand next to Mr. Gold. “I’m Belle.” She was fidgeting nervously, looking very out of place next to Mr. Gold’s calmness. Even their clothes looked very different. Belle was obviously dressed to be comfortable, while Mr. Gold was in a suit. It looked expensive, just like Jefferson’s, but it was more traditional.

“This is Emma, Jefferson’s adoptive daughter,” Mr. Gold introduced her. “You remember Jefferson, right?”

“Yes, yes,” she nodded. “Thank you, by the way.”

“You, um, you’re welcome,” Jefferson mumbled, clearly not comfortable. “Anyway, we were heading to Granny’s, would you like to join us?”

Mr. Gold looked at Belle.

“I don’t think I’m feeling up for it yet. Next time, perhaps?”

“Sure. So, uh, see you around.”

“Bye,” Emma said. “It was nice to meet you.”

“Goodbye.”

They walked out and continued on their way.

“That was kinda awkward,” Emma commented.

“A bit, yes. Sorry. I swear they both used to be fun.”

“What happened to Belle?”

“She lost her memory,” he explained. “She only recently got out of the hospital and she’s still unused to, well, everything.”

“Oh. Do you think she’s going to remember?”

“I think she will. Eventually,” he held the door for her when they got to the dinner. “This is Granny’s. If you ever want any gossip this is the place to find it,” he paused for a moment and added. “The lasagna is good too.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she laughed.

They sat down in a booth.

“The woman behind the counter is Granny. She runs this place. And that,” he pointed on a young dark haired woman in red short and white blouse talking to a man in a leather jacket. “Is her granddaughter Ruby. The man she’s speaking with is the sheriff.”

“That’s a lot of names to remember for one day.”

Jefferson laughed.

“Don’t worry. That’s about everyone important. Well, there are the doctors and of course, our dear mayor,” he smirked. “But that can wait.”

“Jefferson!” Ruby smiled at them. “It’s been a while since you’ve showed up. And who’s this?”

“This is Emma, I adopted her.”

“Oh. I’m Ruby Lucas.”

“Hi.”

“So what will it be? The usual?”

“Yes. And hot cocoa for Emma.”

“Cinnamon?” she asked.

“Yes, please,” Emma nodded.

Ruby left to place their order. Emma spent more time talking in the past week than ever before, so she was kind of running out of things to talk about. But there was something she was meaning to ask Jefferson.

“So, Jefferson. What is it that you do, exactly?”

“Uh,” he looked at his hands. “Not much. I’m a pianist, which isn’t really a stable job, especially in such a small town. I play at the local bar sometimes. Since I inherited the mansion and quite a lot of money along with it I mainly focused on music and my hobbies.”

It sounded like a really nice way of saying that he was unemployed, but Emma didn’t mind. If he has enough money to pay for her, there’s nothing to worry about. Other than the possibility of him sending her back, but that was always there. No need to think about it now.

“You could play for me sometime.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “That’d be great.”

They smiled at each other.

*

When they got home, Emma opened the book Jefferson got her again. She skimmed through it, choosing which fairytale to read next. She stopped at the story about Snow White and the seven dwarfs, which she always liked.

It was funny, but the illustration of Snow White looked a bit like Miss Blanchard.


End file.
